3 February 2015 : Transfer Window Fails To Provide A Breath Of Fresh Air

Monday evening saw the January transfer window close, meaning an end to any clubs wanting to do business for permanent signings and long term loans this season. From a Yeovil Town perspective, it didn't close with a loud bang - more as a quiet creak, where you'd barely have noticed that it was there. In the end the only 'movement' was for a player who had already effectively moved - Brendan Moloney's half season loan deal with Northampton Town converted into a permanent deal, with the Cobblers deciding that he was worth a three-and-a-half year contract.

And that basically was it. There had been talk of Marvin Johnson moving from Kidderminster Harriers to Yeovil, but in reality he'd gone on a long journey in the other direction - up to North Lanarkshire to sign for Motherwell, and given that they had enough time to interview him in front of their club sponsors board at their ground, it suggested this wasn't a last minute signature-by-fax-machine deal done in Worcestershire.

The big issue of course is that we have a team that is currently occupying the 24th place in the League One table. I won't go into detail again about the reasons behind that (previous blogs have covered most of those issues) but the one and only thing that should matter to the club right now is "How are we going to preserve our League One status?" - past decisions, errors or serious of unfortunate events do not matter. The only thing that matters is getting together a team, a crowd and a football club that can get itself above the 50 point mark (or thereabouts) and secure League One football for the 2015-16 season. At that point the club can then have its post mortem about what may have led it down its current path (and I doubt that it will be one single factor).

One of the big opportunities the club has given itself in past League One seasons has been the January transfer windows. We've had dreadful starts to other League One seasons - we did much the same in 2009-10 and 2010-11 under Terry Skiverton's management and then had the same overhaul during 2011-12 when Gary Johnson made his return to the club. Even in our League One promotion season, some of the January decisions that we made noticeably enhanced our squad and made it stronger. So we know both manager and assistant are capable of that.

As such, the January 2015 transfer window has been a bit of a weird one. The outgoings made sense. Neither Aaron Martin nor Brendan Moloney were good for us as permanent signings so it was good to get them off the payroll. Ryan Inniss was wanted back at Crystal Palace because of Alan Pardew's arrival as their new manager, whilst Aston Villa wouldn't let us take Jed Steer any longer, and it seemed as though Jordan Clarke's return to Coventry City was invoked by Scunthorpe United flashing the cash. The decision to send back Tom Eaves seemed sensible, whilst Calvin Brooks was never a serious first-teamer. So in terms of the outgoings, they were either somewhat out of our control, or were ones where you could understand Gary Johnson's thinking.

Having had all of those departures though, you might have thought there would be a secondary wave of new arrivals. There have been some, but both Gozie Ugwu and Fergus Bell are on the scale of it cheap permanent signings on short six month deals. Then Jamar Loza and Liam Shephard have been youth loans, usually provided by large clubs at a minimal cost given they see as much benefit out of the deal as we do, in that they want their rookie players to experience first team football as part of a step ladder into their own first teams.

Compare and contrast the 'exit' list with the 'arrivals' list and it becomes apparent that we are both a man or two down in numbers, but also in terms of what you'd expect to pay for a typical professional player. The assumption has been that Moloney and Martin were two of our higher earners given they were players who did arrive with decent CVs, and therefore removing them from our payroll is a good thing. However, the players who have replaced them are more players at the start of their footballing careers, who will be on far less money.

Added to that is the question mark of the FA Cup money. Exactly how much we made out of our cup run and in particular the Third Round tie against Manchester United is hard to tell. However, Commercial Manager Dave Linney didn't seem too flustered when it was put to him that the cup run had been worth around £500,000 to the club. Whether that's accurate or not then it's obvious that it was a large chunk of money that would have been unbudgeted income, and for a club that has in the past publicised turnover of around £3 million per year in a typical League One season, that's a sizeable uplift on what you were expecting.

Aligned to that is the question mark over gate income. Pre-season interviews strongly suggested that the club had set a playing budget based on attendances of 4,500. We're currently running on an average crowd of 4,375, which is slightly below that target but with more tasty home fixtures against Bristol City and Sheffield United to end the season with, and the possibility that the last few matches could be vital 'must win' matches, the original target for the club can still comfortably be met.

The club have made much this season of the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SMCP) rules (sometimes referred to as Financial Fair Play, which is actually the Championship division model, but largely serves the same sort of purpose). The Football League limit clubs spending to a certain level, based on a percentage of each club's turnover, but with it flexible enough such that you can make adjustments to the figures if a cup run means your turnover is now going to be higher than expected. So whilst the club have made some noises about being constrained by the SMCP rules, the FA Cup windfall should make that situation more relaxed.

With all of those factors in mind, you'd think that if anything we'd have slightly more to spend - the Moloney and Martin high earners off our books, and the Manchester United money banked. It's certainly hard to imagine that we're worse off after that. Yet the January recruitment feels like a downsizing, with our transfer targets (Chris Stokes of Forest Green who we couldn't afford because his wages were too high, and Marvin Johnson of Kidderminster, who their press ridiculed our offer as 'derisory') being aimed at Conference National and League Two players who may well be decent players, but like Fergus Bell who we did get, need time to be blooded into the team, with the rise up a division creating a learning curve, as opposed to past signings like Paul Wotton or Efe Sodje who have been made midway through a season and have had the experience and knowhow to make an instant impact on the team's fortunes. We've been able to afford such players in the past, so why is that not possible now?

These are more questions than solid answers, I'm afraid, but on the surface of it, but having gone through all of the ins and outs of our current situation I will repeat the key thing the club should have on its radar at present: The one and only thing that should matter to the club right now is "How are we going to preserve our League One status?"

Supporters have obviously theorised as to the reasons why opportunities have been so thin on the ground. With the club rarely transparent about its financial dealings we're fishing in the dark. Some fans have theorised that this may be a result of the Boardroom having a lack of confidence in the manager. As I said a month ago, that really shouldn't be an option - you back your manager, or you sack him - or you become part of the problem. And of course with the transfer window now firmly shut, any prospective replacement manager would have his hands firmly tied anyway. Once the board gave Gary the green light to be the man who took the club through the January transfer window, then barring a series of catastrophic thrashings they needed to make him the man to take it through to the season's end.

The other bit of theorising suggests that the club's No.1 priority is more the production of their latest Retail Store plans at Huish Park. Again that may have legs - the club's timing of the Public Consultation was a bit surprising during a month when matters are normally very firmly focussed upon footballing things. Gary Johnson's own answer to a question posed by BBC Somersetlast Thursday was quite interesting though. When quizzed about the Manchester United FA Cup money and whether that was helping him he sidestepped it somewhat by saying:

"That's a question you'd have to ask the Board of Directors, I think. They will have their budgets and their forecasts and that sort of thing ... The club has still got to survive and it's still got to get this development thing on the go. That's vital to the future of the club. That's what is coming from the Board of Directors and I can see that. So I think that a lot of time and effort is going into that at the moment."

That didn't seem to be a critical comment from Gary - managers have to fit around the aspirations of their Board of Directors, and will often be bought into that vision. However, if that is the case then firstly the Board should communicate that strategy to supporters and buy us into that strategic plan - both to stop all the 'Where's all the money gone?' questions and to dampen down expectations. I do have reservations with that as a strategy - see Darlington and Bristol Rovers for reasons why taking your eye off your core football business may not be a wise decision - but I'd rather have that out in the open than be second guessing.

The final, and more gloomy proposition, comes from the club's own Three Year Strategic Plan which was published almost exactly a year ago. In that document, the club referred to the now failed Food Store planning application, forecasting doom'n'gloom if the 'current' application did not succeed:

"The Club can no longer continue to live from 'hand to mouth' each season, and its long term future will be decided on the regeneration plans for the Huish Park site. Failure to succeed with this current planning application which will allow for the development of the stadium site will consign the Club to play in the lower leagues and possibly return to Non-League football."

I realise that since the plans were withdrawn in June 2014 that we've now got the possibility of further replacement plans being submitted later in 2015. But we never had an explanation for that rather apocalyptic prediction for the club. Again, if that is the case, then make it clear, make it transparent and get supporters bought into whatever the issues are.

Back to the football. It seems as though bar the odd loan deal that Gary Johnson will have to make do with what he's got right now. That doesn't mean that we're automatically relegated or that we should throw the towel in - as a minority of supporters seemed to do up at London Road when Peterborough United went 1-0 up. We can still escape from the drop, as a four point deficit can be overcome. But it needs a real fighting spirit on the pitch, in the dressing room, on the terraces and in the boardroom. There have been many times this season - from all of the quarters that I have just named - where I have not felt that fighting spirit there, and it needs to return - at least between 3.00p.m. and 5.00p.m. on a Saturday afternoon.

Do you want Yeovil Town to remain in League One and are you willing to fight for it? If so, then we have to put aside our disappointments of the January transfer window, remove any grumbles people might have about Gary Johnson (it's clear he's going to be our manager for the foreseeable future, so get over it), ignore anything that may or may not be happening to the land behind the Copse Road Terrace, and concentrate 100 percent for the full 90 minutes on trying to take three points off Crawley Town and ideally another point or three of Crewe Alexandra.

To repeat a third time: The one and only thing that should matter to the club right now is "How are we going to preserve our League One status?"

I really don't believe they're interested in staying in League One. All the signs are that they're building a team for the Conference South.
03/02/2015 16:59:31

Lawrie Poole said ...

I think the Board see the Football Club as a big obstacle to creating an even bigger retail park. As their non-action is obviously now taking us back to non-league. Once there, I don't think they will want the club to survive for long. And it probably won't because if they continue to provide such dire performances, as this season, no one will want to pay to watch it. This year will be my last as a STH unless something positive happens. I won't hold my breath.
03/02/2015 17:22:07

bob said ...

Surely with the players that we lost and the unexpected FA cup money there was money to invest in signing? if the board don't trust GJ, then GJ should not be manager, he is still manager so the board should be making funds available to strengthen - they haven't...same old board
03/02/2015 17:58:30

Thank you Ju said ...

To answer your question , I would say 'with great difficulty' .
This is a time when the fans are looking to the Club to give an indication as to whether they want to stay in League One , and so far there has been no indication at all .
The situation has been crying out for some experienced players to come in and lead the Club out of the relegation zone , and this has just not happened .
No disrespect to Fergus Bell , but he couldn't get in the Mansfield side , and apparently Forest Green pay more than we do .
So I suspect the Club would be happier if we were in League Two .
They are always peddling the 'Little Old Yeovil' saying .
If they keep it up they will have their way ,
It is just a question of when we will stop sliding
03/02/2015 17:59:52

Green Commuter said ...

As usual a thorough and well articulated piece of analysis. As the author quite rightly says, even with the poor league performance, the club's financial position for the season must be ahead of projections. It's all very well for those at the top to say the supporters must get behind the club, but surely the supporters are entitled to expect the same from the 'money men'. I now believe that our brief flirtation with the Championship actually frightened them - the figures were all too big....everything seemed such a risk. And now it feels as if we are in free fall - the failings on the pitch are more than matched by the failings in the Boardroom. And what is unforgivable is the silence....it is deafening - the only thing we hear is about the development...and you can bet that (eventually) the asset (ultimate) owners will be the only beneficiaries. Yes, I will still continue to support the 11 green and white shirts that perform on the pitch, however well or badly, but I really resent what has been allowed to happen to OUR club - the stagnation stinks...and it should never have been this way!
03/02/2015 18:08:16

Matt said ...

What a massively disappointing state of affairs.

Our aim is clear, you stated it three times and I can't reconcile that with these signings/near misses. Will players that can't get a game for teams a division or two below us really make the difference?? Really???

I hope I am proved wrong
03/02/2015 18:35:45

Dorset Greenman said ...

It's quite simple if you were to think Gary has already spent the whole seasons playing budget and made some awful signings and decisions.
The board won't give him more as they haven't the confidence and will only tell him to go when it costs nothing to do so.
Oh well I suppose we can watch Chris Dunn put in another fantastic performance against Man Utd - oh well at least we got in two top replacements for him lol.
Someone needs the integrity and guts to say "Enough"!

03/02/2015 19:17:44

Mark said ...

The upgrade of the stadium and investment in the team is clearly not a priority for the board, unlike developing the surrounding land. Ambitions of a League 2 club at best and they clearly wouldn't even pay off the current management team and instead leave them in place until their contract expires at the same time back to back relegation will happen. Clubs like Bristol City, Swindon & Bournemouth are showing us up in the way a relatively small club can progress.
03/02/2015 19:48:57

Ray said ...

A very concise piece of analysis. I only hope that all fans read this and support the team throughout all matches to the end of the season. Their support really does matter to a team in our position and low in confidence. They have good performances in them, Oldham away and the United game are two of the recent ones to show this. Leave any protests until the end of games and send 'The team is Shite' chants to the dustbin where they belong. Supporters support.
03/02/2015 20:16:04

Camelgreen said ...

I spoke to two people this morning, both who have close connections with the club, one very close and both were absolutely shocked that signings were made. One of these people feels the new planning application will fail but the club will keep coming up with ideas until something is accepted. Many fans any development is only meant to benefit two people and I think most fans know who that is. Mr Johnson more or less admit that Bell wasn't a serious signing when he said its all about numbers, he was just someone who was available at the time. I'm afraid to say I feel The chairman doesn't care which which division we play in,he knows there will always be the hard core fans, say two to three thousand and he'll just budget for that. He knows his investment (the site) will not lose value. Everyone you talk to around the town are absolutely fed up with lack ambition that exists on the pitch, season ticket holders are saying why bother stumping up good money when the board refuses to do the same, just go to selected games, I must say I am so frustrated with it all that if I wasn't a season ticket holder I might have stayed away on Saturday, and don't imagine Mr Fry would be particularly bothered, he's already banked my money. I don't think going to matches and singing our heads for boys will make any difference, know the board they will probably think 'oh look despite everything the fans are still happy'!!! God this all making me so cynical.
03/02/2015 20:22:22

SL6 Glover said ...

The club seems to be sleep walking back to non league! How long will it be before collection buckets appear around the ground again? Retail Park Plans - look what happened to Bristol Rovers when they took their eye off team affairs and focussed on moving to a new ground. 'Little Old Yeovil' - maybe its a case of 'Little Old Thinking' from members of the board! If you sign Conference players you become a Conference side. As for 'must win' games, how many of those did we win during last year's relegation battle. For two seasons we have been unable to find strikers with quality to score goals. All that is needed now to secure points from YTFC is to score first in the fixture. An extremely exasperating time to be a Glovers fan.
03/02/2015 20:26:34

Stu said ...

Again another well written and well argued article.
How are we going to preserve our League One status? Sadly, I think we will struggle. Currently we have 25 points from 28 games. If we continue in the same form, then the stats say we achieve 41 points by the end of the season.
True we have key players injured, but watching the team each home game, I see an almost reluctance to want to shoot from outside the box. There is almost a wanting to try and walk the ball into the net - which we plainly can't! A free spirited player to inject some confidence and invention is a must. We are masters of our own destiny!
Crawley this Saturday will be critical, because if it is more of the same, League Two here we come. I will be supporting the lads until the end but am realistic to know that that might not be enough.
03/02/2015 20:29:34

LoughboroughGlover said ...

The comment we are a League team on the pitch but a Non-League one off it still holds true and that will always will be the case as long as we have the current owners and the Yes-men in key positions who kowtow to them. Conference here we come!
03/02/2015 20:33:17

stoke green said ...

It does sound as if Gary was genuinely trying to sign players during January but, seriously; if you were a player would you want to sign for the division's bottom side????
03/02/2015 21:16:32

Cruncher said ...

It seems - and it has always seemed right from the start of the land split and plans to sell off assets - that the owners want the club to have significant problems alongside a gloomy looking future because that 'justifies' a retail park. I feel sure Slade saw through this very early. l would urge people to heed Haribo's reply to Badger's blog Store Wars 2 (29/05/14) where he shows that Mr Hayward individually owns a certain portion of the Hush Park plot and that seems to be designated land Mr Dawson wanted/wants to buy. A while back some of us tried to widen the debate until constraints on our time etc - it did get a fair bit of support but what I especially wonder about now is how many of those that did not agree with our fears and perspective now might indeed be just as cautious and worried about the land split and partnership with CDS.
03/02/2015 22:05:52

PBG said ...

If the board and eased the purse strings in the Championship we;d still be there.

We have a non league budget and it looks like that's where we're headed. League two will be a mare,
04/02/2015 02:25:10

Stewartbarnes said ...

Agree with everyone else,the club don't seem to want to stay up,the lack of signings proves it.
Where are the goals going to come from?
I believe we are one the lowest goal scorers in all the divisions,so it's no wonder we are bottom of League One.
As stated by others,relegation seems virtually certain.
04/02/2015 06:11:54

glovergreen said ...

Achieve By Unity - we need to heed this advice.

We are stuck with the players we have and as such we have to support this group (including manager).

Unfortunately we don't have owners who are as passionate about the team as us. Like stated in the article, Back him or sack him and we have had neither. I agree with the comments about trying to walk the ball in, tried it all season (and most of last) without success, I keep watching league 2 in the football league show and see higher quality football than I pay £25 most weeks to see. At least I see goals!

Drastic changes are required, but I fear that we are more than likely going the way of Hereford.
04/02/2015 08:38:00

steve neish said ...

Fry relinquished the CEO role to develop the ground. He transferred it to himself and Hayward, and I see nothing since that makes be believe that all hes interested in is the land. Since hes taken over as the CEO we have just gone south. If it was any other CEO, hed have been sacked. The football club doesn't mean the same to Fry who lets be honest was never a fan before he went on the board
04/02/2015 08:47:10

Baz said ...

Even discounting the money side of things for a moment, I suspect Yeovil is not a very attractive option for players at the moment with our league position and current form.

In regard to gate, I struggle to comprehend the fact that tickets have gone up (considerably) in price this year despite our relegation. We supposedly have the most expensive tickets in the division which is hard to justify after 2 home wins and just half a dozen goals all season. If they want more people through the gate they need to make pricing competitive/reasonable.
04/02/2015 08:47:16

Baz said ...

Even discounting the money side of things for a moment, I suspect Yeovil is not a very attractive option for players at the moment with our league position and current form.

In regard to gate, I struggle to comprehend the fact that tickets have gone up (considerably) in price this year despite our relegation. We supposedly have the most expensive tickets in the division which is hard to justify after 2 home wins and just half a dozen goals all season. If they want more people through the gate they need to make pricing competitive/reasonable.
04/02/2015 08:47:29

Dusty said ...

The key point is which good player, if there are any available to us, would want to sign for us at this stage of the season. If I was an agent I don't think I would be saying go to Yeovil as that is a good move. However, depressing it may be we have got what we have got and although I am critical of the whole situation, we have some good players who can play. So let's see them play with enthusiasm and freedom. All we can do as supporters is support and hope our team play their socks off for the rest o the season. Like any managers Gary etc have to get the best out of what they have got and the players have to give their all because they dont want to be relegated. If I was a player or the captain I would be saying "we are not bloody having this anymore lads so let's play to win and be 100% focussed 100% or the time" - in reality my words would be more colourful!!!
04/02/2015 09:01:23

camelgreen said ...

Surely it must be difficult to motivate players who know that what ever the out come of the season most of the wont be here next year, if we do by any miracle stay up Mr Fry will probably put up the ticket prices and reduced the playing budget again!! As it would appear that Mr Fry wants Dawson 'Range' to be part of this development, does any body know whether he has actually bought his site? Also has anyone heard the rumour that Mr Johnson was ready to quit after the post Port Vale game scenes, but changed his mind after sleeping on?
04/02/2015 10:16:25

LandGreen said ...

JF/Board continues to show their non-league experience in running a business in such an opaque and closed manner. I can't believe that there is/was no extra money available (to improve the team) from all the ££s from being a Championship team. Perhaps ringfenced for the development dream? The accounts will make interesting reading in due course. Unfortunately the Board lack any professional integrity and just don't get it. I would plan to have extra expense (to bring in players as needed) during the summer and January - wouldn't you?!
04/02/2015 12:53:22

Martin - South Africa said ...

Gents,It has been on the slide since the last transfer window closed and the Gaffer arrived late for the next game, which the Glovers lost in style. Before we eat cockles on Weymouth's beach front before our next league game against them, could I ask you to PLEASE send all of your well written mail to the Gazette and ask them to publish his article and the myriad of wonderful supporting text on this weeks front page. Maybe the Board will choke on their thinly sliced livers, oops, I mean cucumber snadwiches.
Good luck to Gary in his new job next year.
04/02/2015 13:18:36

Essex Glover said ...

GJ gone.We all wish him well but no doubt the correct decision.Making Skivo manager again has
got to be wrong.Hopefully only a temporary situation.Big question now,who is available?
04/02/2015 16:11:47

Matthew said ...

Just when you think couldn`t get any more desperate the Board name their scapegoat replacing him with someone who couldnt cope the first time around!

Well thanks for some amazing memories Gary. You have may have lost your magic touch this season but most of us realize we never would have enjoyed the giddy heights without your input.

Good luck and im sure the Board will be more comfortable when we`re a non league club again....
04/02/2015 16:22:33

Glovergreen said ...

It's the right decision just 3 weeks late. Thanks Gary but it was time. He will always be a legend through what he helped us achieved.

Board though too little very much too late.
04/02/2015 17:08:16

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